Curly Girl

Have you heard of the Curly Girl Method? I first came across this method in a YouTube video that popped up in my feed a little over a month ago. for the life of me I can’t remember who’s video it was, but it got me thinking about how I treat my hair, and the products I put in it. I don’t do a whole lot with my hair; my usual look is a mom bun, but at least once a week I like it to look nice, even if it is just on a Sunday morning for church.

My hair changed about five years ago when I had my second child. Up until that point I had a slight wave in my hair, but it was easily straightened. After my son came along the whole back of my head went curly, and I just didn’t know how to wear it or style it properly, and it would often look frizzy and untamed. Needless to say I was excited to hear about a method that could help my hair look healthier, and less frizzy.

The Curly Girl Method is based on a book by Lorraine Massey titled “Curly Girl: The Handbook”. It is quite easy to find, and I hear it goes into great detail about the different ways to treat and style curly or wavy hair, and maybe one day I will read it! For now I have been experimenting with CG (Curly Girl) approved products and finding what works for me. I have also been doing a lot of googling and watching CG YouTubers talk about their methods.

top left-first day of curly girl method. bottom right-today, about a month since I started.

It has been just a little over a month since I started the Curly Girl Method (or at least my take on it) and I have seen some great results so far! (see photo above)

So here are the basics.

Get rid of any products in your hair care routine that contain silicones, sulfates, or alcohol. These dry out your hair, and often curly hair is dryer and more prone to frizz and breakage.

Try co-washing or using conditioner to wash your hair instead of harsh shampoos.

Do not brush your hair! I know this one sounds odd, but instead of brushing try combing your hair in the shower when it has conditioner in it. Brushing causes breakage and roughs up the hair cuticle, causing more frizz.

Do not use a towel to dry your hair, a rough towel will cause frizz. Instead try using an old t-shirt or a microfibre towel to squeeze out excess moisture.

Do all your hair styling in the shower. This includes your gel, and curly girls use A LOT of gel.

Coat your hair in gel when it is still soaking wet and squish or scrunch it in. As your hair dries it will start to feel crunchy, but that is what you want! The gel is helping to hold your curl pattern in place, they call this a ‘cast’. when it is totally dry you ‘scrunch out the crunch’ as curly girls would say, revealing soft bouncy curls.

Do a lot of scrunching in the shower e.g. squish your conditioner into your hair to encourage curl formation and to get it really well moisturized.

Rinse your hair with cool water to close the cuticle and hold in the moisture.

Try plopping your hair (sounds weird I know) this is a method of tying your hair up on top of your head in a t-shirt for about 20 min while it starts to dry. This encourages the curl and creates some lift at the roots.

DO NOT use heat. No straighteners, No hot blow drying, etc…. These damage your hair and interrupt your natural curl pattern.

Do use a diffuser on cool setting, or allow your hair to air dry

To refresh your hair the next day try using a little bit of leave in conditioner mixed with water in a spray bottle. Spritz this all over your head and then give your curls a good scrunch. This should reactivate any product you put in your hair the day before.

Get a hair cut! Dead ends need to go to help your hair curl it’s best.

One last thing you can do, is protect your hair at night from further frizz and breakage by sleeping on a satin pillowcase, or using a satin hair wrap. I have not bought one of these yet, but it is on my list.

Phew! That was a lot of information! The secret to this method however, seems to be more about eliminating things than adding in new things. If this all sounds a little overwhelming, just try getting a CG approved conditioner and a gel. I have been using the Maui Moisture conditioners, and the Garnier Fructis Survivor gel. Those are the only two things you really need to get started.

In my next post I will talk about my experience getting my first curly hair cut, at a curly hair salon! 🙂

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I needed a haircut….badly. My hair was getting long and hard to manage, and was knotting so quickly. I was also (and still am) experiencing the lovely post-partum hair loss that so many women deal with. With my hair being so very long I was clogging the drain every time I had a shower….not pretty! […]

Have you heard of the Curly Girl Method? I first came across this method in a YouTube video that popped up in my feed a little over a month ago. for the life of me I can’t remember who’s video it was, but it got me thinking about how I treat my hair, and the […]